David — Founder-CEO of a 12-employee tech startup

How it started

David finished an economics bachelor's, worked 2 years as a junior analyst at a commercial bank. The opportunity he spotted: bias-conscious companies looking for data analytics to identify discrimination. An idea that became an Excel MVP.

ScaleUp Velocity — 16 weeks

He applied with an idea + co-founder (a university friend). They placed 2nd at Demo Day, won ₪150K seed, and signed 2 pilots with ENP partner companies.

Building the team

With the seed — they hired their first developer (an ENP Tech-Career grad, David's high-school classmate). Year one: 4 employees, ARR of ₪400K. Year two: 8 employees, ARR ₪1.2M.

Where he is today

12 employees, ARR ₪3.5M. A ₪2M seed-extension round closing. He doesn't take a high salary himself (₪14K) — prefers competitive comp for the team. Optimistic about a Series A round.

Recommendation

> "ScaleUp Velocity isn't just money — it's a mentor network you can't reach otherwise. My 3 mentors are the reason the business didn't close in months 8-9."

Programs used

• ScaleUp Velocity
• UJIA-KIEDF — business loans